About Us
The sole purpose of our project is to care for the welfare and well-being of domesticated elephants.
At ECRF, we prioritize the mental and physical health of the elephants under our care.
We do not engage in riding or exploitative activities with our elephants. Mornings begin with cleaning the elephants’ beds, collecting food for the day, preparing vitamin balls (sometimes containing necessary medicine), and assisting with day-trip visitors.
Renting and maintaining elephants is extremely expensive, and the project relies solely on donations and volunteer support, which is why we ask for a fee to join.
Our dream is to buy a piece of land where our elephants can roam as freely as possible.
We aim to educate as many people as possible about the realities of tourist attractions and the logging industry, so we hope you will have many questions to ask.
Program at a glance
Why choose us?
Our volunteers can observe the rescued elephants in their natural environment :)
Here, we bring hardworking domesticated elephants from elephant riding camps and logging sites around Sri Lanka and provide them with sufficient food, water, vitamins, and medicine. You can care for them by getting closer and feeding them snacks—they love it :)
Requirements
- Mosquito spray
- Boots
- Long pants
Volunteer experience
Here is a rough schedule including the activities during your shifts:
- Breakfast: Around 8:30
- Transportation to the project: Around 9:00
- Cleaning elephant beds: Begins upon arrival
- Locating and gathering food: After the beds have been cleaned
- Lunch: Between 12:00 and 13:00
- Feeding snacks and observing the elephants / additional activities: After lunch
- Transportation back from the project: Around 15:00
- Dinner: Between 19:00 and 20:00
$380 per week
We can host 30+ people at one time. We offer both private and shared rooms, and each room has a private bathroom.
Our accommodation also has a balcony where you can clearly see the sunrise.
We provide three meals per day, along with drinking water.
Usually, we return from the project at around 3–4 PM. Given the physical nature of the work at the project, most volunteers find themselves quite tired after a hard day’s work.
However, there are a few additional activities we can arrange, such as visiting a local waterfall, teaching English classes at one of the nearby schools, white-water rafting (extra fee required), hiking Battalegala (Bible Rock), visiting gem factories, tea factories, and spice gardens, as well as many other places to explore in and around the surrounding area.
Photos (17 total)
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